Analytical technologies continue to advance far beyond the test tube scale evaluations of the 19th and 20th centuries, and have progressed to the point where researchers can look at very specific interactions in vivo, in vitro, at the cellular level, and even at the level of individual molecules. This progression is driven not just by the desire to understand important reactions in their purest form, but also by the realization that seemingly minor or insignificant reactions in living systems can prompt a cascade of other events that could potentially unleash a life or death result.
In this progression, these analyses not only have become more focused on lesser events, but also have had to become appropriately more sensitive, in order to be able to monitor such reactions. In increasing sensitivity to the levels of cellular or even single molecular levels, one may inherently increase the sensitivity of the system to other non-relevant signals, or ‘noise’. In some cases, the noise level can be of sufficient magnitude that it partially or completely obscures the desired signals, i.e., those corresponding to the analysis of interest. Accordingly, it is desirable to be able to increase sensitivity of detection while maintaining the signal-to-noise ratio.
There is a continuing need to increase the performance of analytical systems and reduce the cost associated with manufacturing and using the system. In particular, there is a continuing need to increase the throughput of analytical systems. There is a continuing need to reduce the size and complexity of analytical system. There is a continuing need for analytical systems that have flexible configurations and are easily scalable.
The present invention provides devices, systems and methods for overcoming the above problems in addition to other benefits.